Acclaimed Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter makes his operatic debut with The Royal Opera’s new production of Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, co-directed by Hofesh and The Royal Opera’s Associate Director John Fulljames. For many of the dancers in the opera, drawn from the Hofesh Shechter Company and its affiliated apprentice programme Shechter Junior, Orphée is also their first operatic experience: during rehearsals Kenny Wing Tao Ho from Shechter Junior summarizes, ‘I never saw opera, I never danced in opera – it’s my first time to be involved in anything to do with opera’.

Perhaps the biggest difference is the music: Hofesh usually composes his own music, so working with Gluck’s score has been quite a change. Winifred Burnet-Smith, HSC dancer and rehearsal assistant, says, ‘usually [with Hofesh] the music kind of goes along with the movement. So now you’re bound to the music’. Frédéric Despierre, HSC dancer and rehearsal assistant, thinks it’s a good fit: ‘It’s quite easy to go over the top with music so epic and so powerful, and with Hofesh’s style we always try to bring it down to a more natural, more organic way of moving. I think it brings a bit more of a human feeling.’

Many of the dancers have enjoyed working with the Monteverdi Choir. Frédéric explains, ‘We’re used to having a bit of live music with our shows but this is completely different, to have 35 singers literally amongst us. It’s very powerful’. Being among the singers has even affected the way the dancers move, as Kenny adds: ‘I find, especially when they do it live with us, at the end of each phrase there’s a moment of breath and it’s always a bit different, it can vary – so it’s always a challenge to really listen and say, ok, this is when they’re going to go into the next phrase.’

Being part of a larger story has also been a change, as Anna Stamp Moller from Shechter Junior explains: ‘you have to work in a different way. I’m sure Hofesh had to twist his brain a bit around to follow the storyline.’ But there’s still room for free interpretation, she adds: ‘That’s what I like about this creation, I don’t think we show what [the chorus and soloists] sing. We try to maybe show a different side of what is being said.’

‘I couldn’t believe it when I was told that Sir John Eliot Gardiner is conducting, because he was my hero when I was 18 years old – and he still is!’ says Hofesh Shechter.

The opera, which had its world premiere in 1762, tells the story of the great musician Orphée, who journeys to the underworld in search of his lost-love, Eurydice.

‘We are looking to give a very raw experience that concentrates on the music that is at the heart of the story. Orphée is a musician and that’s his tool, power and energy in the world, and so music and movement will be in the centre of the piece.’

‘Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydiceis almost a monologue. There’s one man who has lost the love of his life, and it’s about his process of grieving,’ says John Fulljames. ‘We’re thrilled to be welcoming Juan Diego Flórez to sing Orphée, which is an extraordinarily difficult role. Gluck writes stratospherically high for the tenor voice, and so the character is really at the extremes of his voice as he struggles against the forces of the underworld to win back the love of his love, the wonderful Lucy Crowe.’

The production forms part of #HOFEST, a four-week festival showcasing the work of choreographer and musician Hofesh Shechter, and is staged with generous philanthropic support from Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet.

Hofesh, who made his Royal Ballet choreographic debut earlier this Season with Untouchable, opens the festival at Covent Garden with his opera directing debut: Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice alongside co-director John Fulljames. One of Gluck's most popular works, the opera tells the story of the great musician Orphée, who journeys to the underworld in search of his lost-love, Eurydice. The production will star Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez in the lead role. As well as opening #HOFEST, the production's first night on 14 September will also open the 2015/16 Royal Opera Season.

‘I think it is extraordinary to have a choreographer who is also such a passionate and intelligent musician’, says John Fulljames. ‘Gluck’s music leaves enormous space for emotional reflection through both song and dance – it is an opera that has dance at its centre, and so it feels right to be working with Hofesh. We are also working with conductor John Eliot Gardiner, so this opera will be a collaborative process three ways.’

The premiere of The Four Temperaments on 20 November 1946 is widely regarded as a significant turning point in the history of ballet. Balanchine’s choreography was succinctly summarised as ‘kick, wham, fast, hard, big’ by dancer Tanaquil LeClercq, who created a role in ‘Choleric’. Balanchine broke with convention, manipulating and expanding upon the classical vocabulary in a series of striking, unpredictable solos and ensembles that challenged dancers and audiences alike, and introduced new possibilities for ballet as an art form.

An Inspiring Score

Balanchine commissioned the score for The Four Temperaments from Paul Hindemith with the money he had earned working on Broadway musicals. The resulting work for piano and strings is a theme and four variations based on the medieval notion of the four temperaments, or personality types – Melancholic, Sanguinic, Phlegmatic and Choleric. Inspired by the composer’s unusual approach, Balanchine responded with what he described as ‘a kind of stereoscopic choreography for Hindemith’s strong score’ that evokes the attitudes and moods of the temperaments without being directly programmatic.

Israeli-born, London-based choreographer and composer Hofesh Shechter is a leading voice in British contemporary dance. He’s won widespread acclaim for his visceral, politically charged choreography and atmospheric musical scores. Winner of several awards, including the 2008 Critics' Circle for Best Choreography (Modern), he has been commissioned to create works for leading dance companies worldwide. Untouchable is his first piece for The Royal Ballet.

An Ocean of Dancers

The focus in Untouchable, as in the majority of Shechter’s choreography, is on the tribal group, rather than on soloists. He’s choreographed the work on what he describes as an ‘ocean’ of roughly twenty dancers, drawn mainly from the corps de ballet. Shechter’s aim in Untouchable is to ‘meet somewhere in the middle’ between his own heavy, primal style and the dancers’ ballet vocabulary, to create a piece that explores the group’s unique energy.

Gustav Mahler’s ‘song symphony’ Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) was composed during a painful time in the composer’s life, shortly after the death of his daughter Maria. The work is divided into six movements, the text for which is taken from Chinese poems of the eighth century T’ang dynasty – freely translated into German by Hans Bethge – that address themes of transience, parting and salvation. MacMillan fell in love with the piece and in 1965 used it as the score for his Song of the Earth, created for Stuttgart Ballet and brought into the repertory of The Royal Ballet six months later.

Man, Woman, Death

MacMillan worked a narrative into Song of the Earth, drawing on imagery from the translated poems. Focusing on a trio of dancers who perform a variety of solos, pas de deux and pas de trois, he created a ballet that, in his own words, depicts ‘a man and a woman; death takes the man; they both return to her and at the end of the ballet, we find that in death there is the promise of renewal. It is a sort of revelation achieved through death’.

Try to describe Wikipedia to someone who’s never heard of it and they won’t believe you. A free encyclopedia to which anyone can contribute, which is actually useful? But you’ve never likely to have that conversation anyway; with more than 6 billion page views a month, Wikipedia is the fifth most popular website – and an amazing resource for the sharing of knowledge on a global scale.

Wikipedia is a work in progress, and dance is one of the areas that needs improvement. At the Royal Opera House we’re passionate about sharing ballet and opera with the world – and Wikipedia is one of the most far-reaching ways to do that. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Wikimedia UK to host a number of ‘editathons’ – focussed sessions to improve particular articles. In our previous editathons – on Ashton and MacMillan – we opened the invitation to everyone. But this time we turned our attention to the ROH Student Ambassadors.

The ROH Student Ambassadors are selected from the ROH Students scheme to be passionate advocates for the work of the Royal Opera House within their respective universities. They’re creative, confident and share our love for opera and ballet. We invited them to an evening performance of Swan Lake, and in the afternoon set them to work on editing Wikipedia on a subject of their choice. Joining us were experienced Wikipedians Tim Riley and Jonathan Cardy, who provided invaluable insight into the ins and outs of editing.

The Ambassadors made tremendous improvements to a wide range of articles. Some chose to focus on Swan Lake, and worked on the pages of original choreographer Lev Ivanov, producer of The Royal Ballet’s production Anthony Dowell, and dancers Jonathan Cope and Derek Rencher, who created roles in the premiere of Dowell’s 1987 production.

Others began work on the huge task of improving John Cranko’s status on Wikipedia, whose minimal presence in the encyclopedia does not reflect his significance in 20th-century ballet. They improved his article, and created an entry for Onegin, one of Cranko’s most popular ballets.

Alicia Horsted, ROH Student Ambassador at the Open University, said ‘As a Wikipedia user I really appreciate the articles that are available, so to be able to add or create something to help other people who would like an insight into a potential interest, or further the knowledge of die-hard fans, is absolutely brilliant. I found the experience addictive and it really captured my attention (which is hard for someone who is fidgety and easily distracted!). I can't wait to continue the work I began in the editathon’.

Steven Cuell from Oxford University ‘spent the day researching the life and work of Lev Ivanov, whose work (and Wikipedia page!) is often forgotten under the shadow of Marius Petipa. It was exciting and rewarding to spend a day sharing knowledge that will, in its own little way, make information more accurate and accessible for ballet lovers everywhere’.

Kathleen Greene from the London College of Music said ‘Wikipedia is such a helpful resource to many that being part of the editathon made me feel like I was contributing to something hugely important. And as a bonus, it was all to do with the arts! A great experience definitely worth trying’.

Jonathan from Wikipedia summarized: 'It was lovely to be able to work with such a lovely bright bunch of people!'

Mark Monahan: In recent years, Covent Garden audiences have grown increasingly accustomed to the sight of contemporary dance. But even so, the prospect of Hofesh Shechter – creator of such pile-drivingly modern shows as In your rooms and Political Mother – in the Royal Opera House…

Hofesh Shechter: I may keep some audiences away.

MM: I wasn’t going to say that!

HS: You made me say it!

MM: In fact, it’s such a riveting prospect that all five performances have already sold out. But how did the project come about?

HS:Kevin [O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet] approached me maybe two or three years ago, just to see how I would feel about it. We were toying with the idea for a while, and were trying to find the time for a workshop, for a week where I could work with the dancers and see how it went.

MM: Your past pieces have explored everything from male bonding and aggression (Uprising) and existential angst (In your rooms) to the tyranny of oppressive regimes (Political Mother). What can we expect now?

HS: My first thought was immediately about the scale – and then, other thoughts crept in. We’re in a period where everybody speaks about immigration, and I couldn’t help but remember that I’m an immigrant. My work is so different from what they have here normally. I feel I have to speak in a language that is understandable to a Royal Opera House audience, but it must be my language. I have to make sure that there is a shift of energy, a sense that there’s a stranger in the house. I want a feeling of ‘the other’, and of epicness too. Some of the audience will think, ‘Oh, that’s really beautiful’, like when you go to, say, India, and you experience something entirely new. And others will think, ‘What is he doing on my stage?’.

MM: Most choreographers in your position would choose a few principals, a few soloists, and a corps of whatever size, but you’ve thrown all that out.

HS: Yes. I knew that I wanted to make a group piece, and I knew that there is a hierarchy here, and I didn’t want to deal with any of that. The work is about a group, and I suggested to Kevin that perhaps it’s better if the principals don’t come.

MM: And how did you find working with these emphatically classical dancers?

HS: A lot of them have never done anything other than ballet, so when they started to do my movement… I mean, my first day here was not fun – I was looking at the door quite a lot. But I was really thinking, how do I transform that situation to a place where we ‘get’ each other? I could see that they were very keen, and very talented, but it was far from immediate. There were maybe two or three people for whom it was immediate, but I had 60 people in front of me.

MM: But the cast is 20-strong, no?

HS: Yes – but I wanted to see everybody I could, and choose from them. After two or three days, though, they were working really hard and were really progressing. And after about one week, I thought, something will happen, it’ll be OK.

MM: I’ve a hunch you may be right.

HS: [Laughs] I’m curious, actually. I’m curious about how it’s going to come together.
We are doing our best – it’s really exciting, but we’ll see. I hope it’ll be a good night out.

This is an edited extract from Mark Monahan’s article ‘A Stranger in the House’ in The Royal Ballet’s programme book, available during performances and from the ROH Shop.

Untouchable is staged with generous philanthropic support from Georgia Rosengarten.

Aware that the piece might be programmed alongside classical or heritage pieces, Hofesh said, 'It is a very different work. I hope the audience embraces something new, something exciting and something that shifts the energy in the house a little bit.’

Hofesh's Untouchable was created for 20 Royal Ballet dancers and – as well as choreographing – his duties on the production included co-composing a score for 50 orchestra members with Nell Catchpole.

‘I started with a very basic image – a lot of people on stage and the feeling that the piece is always evolving, moving from control to out of control. It has an oceanic feel to it, and a fluidity.’

Of working with The Royal Ballet he says: ‘My movement style is very different. In ballet everything is "up", but in my work everything is "down", and fluid and round’, he says. ‘I’m trying to invite them into my world but also step a little bit towards them. What they can do with their bodies is amazing – I want to see how it can connect with my style and maybe we can create a bit of a hybrid.’

Other benefits for group bookers include a ‘book now, pay later’ arrangement and a dedicated group booking phone line. Furthermore, if bookings are confirmed by 5 February, patrons will receive an extra 5% discount.

Like the violin or gymnastics or Miss Jean Brodie, ballet typically grips in childhood and claims its devotees for life. Choreographers usually emerge from within its ranks – so an excited buzz greeted the news that Hofesh Shechter, leading light of British contemporary dance, would create a new piece for The Royal Ballet in 2015.

It could be the perfect collaboration. Most visiting choreographers make a beeline for star Principals, but Shechter was entranced by a performance of Kenneth MacMillan’s mighty Rite of Spring and relishes the thrumming energies of the corps de ballet. Pieces like In your rooms and Political Mother, performed to his own music, have a thrilling power and draw on collective hope and dread. Alongside the stomp and crouch are an unexpected delicacy and a skittish, capering humour, evident in his company’s most recent show, Sun. There’s a lot for The Royal Ballet to draw on.

Many artistic directors crave a piece of Shechter – dance properties don’t come much hotter – so how did The Royal Ballet’s Kevin O’Hare snare his services? ‘There were floating conversations’, he replies obliquely. ‘Kevin wanted just to chat, to see how we might feel about working together. It quickly became evident that we were both very excited by the idea.’ He hoped to try a preliminary week with the dancers, but ‘who can find a week?’ he shrugs. ‘In the end, Kevin called and said, “let’s just do it.” We both had a hunch that it was the right thing to do.’ Asked what excited him, he simply says, ‘the dancers of The Royal Ballet are a superbreed’. Thoroughbreds they may be, exposed to an ever-increasing range of work, but Shechter’s grounded, expressionistic style will surely be on the wilder shores of their experience. Can they find a common language? ‘We will have to meet somewhere in the middle’, he suggests. ‘I look forward to showing them different areas and energies in the body.’

His works have a visceral fury, but Shechter is a reflective interviewee, eloquently soft-spoken. His dancing life began during his Israeli childhood, with stolid, slippy folk dance. ‘I first went to ballet class when I was 15’, he tells me during a rare ‘London vacation’ between projects. ‘We had a very strict Russian ballet master, who came from the Bolshoi and taught a very simple, robust class. There was something I liked about the discipline and challenge, but I was drawn into contemporary dance, where I could express myself more freely.’

Visiting companies made their mark. ‘I remember the revelation when Frankfurt Ballet came, performing William Forsythe’s work’, he says. ‘My mind was blown.’ He also gathered influences while dancing with the Batsheva Dance Company, Israel’s most celebrated contemporary company. ‘I performed a lot of Ohad Naharin’s strong choreographic works, but also worked with Wim Vandekeybus and watched Forsythe’s and Mats Ek’s works being staged.’

His new piece will share a bill with two acknowledged masterpieces: Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments and MacMillan’s Song of the Earth. Many choreographers start small in their classical debuts, but Shechter is undaunted by large forces. The Royal Ballet may be the train set of his dreams. He laughs when recounting how O’Hare apologized for ‘only’ being able to allow him ‘30, 40 dancers’. ‘I love scale’, he enthuses, ‘though I don’t think it should be used just for the sake of it. My work often deals with social structures and social pressures, so a sense of scale often works well for that’.

Throughout his career, dance and music have wound themselves about each other as sinuously as any pas de deux. Shechter usually composes his own scores, generous with the untrammelled boom of percussion at a volume that shakes the room. He can’t confirm too much about this new score, but exclaims that ‘writing the score is super exciting’. As with the movement, he embraces the full forces on offer, in this case a 120-piece orchestra, ‘the opportunity of a lifetime’.

Music was his first passion – ‘I studied piano for seven years – from the age of six – before I decided to go for dance’. he says. ‘I was talented but lazy.’ Even so, he was accepted into the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance as a pianist, before returning a few days later and asking to transfer to dance. He returned to music after a few years in the Batsheva company, discovering the drums in Tel Aviv and Paris. ‘I studied like a madman’, he remembers. ‘I can’t explain it – it was something about the rhythm. I was studying percussion, dancing, teaching dance – I was searching for myself.’ When the disparate elements came together, the full Hofesh emerged.

When I last interviewed Shechter, I was asked to put a question to him: ‘why is the music always so loud?’ Basically, he admitted, loud is how he likes it. So what does he want music to provide, beyond a satisfying whomp? ‘It’s about how music can open up and describe an experience’, he considers, ‘something that we can connect to. That’s part of the excitement of working with dancers in The Royal Ballet. I like connecting with life experiences so that the dancer is using something raw, real and urgent.’

Twelve years ago, on New Year’s Day in 2002, Shechter stepped off the Eurostar to begin a life in London. Who knew it would lead to his own company, international acclaim, and a Royal Ballet debut? Is he ambitious, I wonder? ‘I had an ambition for a life of creative freedom’, he considers. ‘My drive was very powerful, I don’t know why.’ He shies away from describing worldly goals – ‘life is way more complicated than that sort of dream’ – but admits he always hopes to ‘pour my inside to the outside, to share my emotions.

‘That’s my ambition – to live in a world where I can create freely, to live a life where the emotions and sensations become central. It’s amazing that it happened.’

Hofesh Shechter’s new work runs 27 March—14 April 2015. Tickets are available to Friends of Covent Garden from 9 December 2015, with General booking opening on 27 January 2015.